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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

When we decided to start living a more "aware" lifestyle there were some things I guess I wasn't expecting. Take something like cutting back on water usage. Well that seemed a simple one to us. We installed a rain barrel to collect rain water for the garden. Why water our garden with drinking water when so many people don't have clean water? Or the fact we don't have full house a/c (we do have a window air conditioner that we have used once this summer). Also being able to grow our own food in our back yard and just go out and pick it and bring it in when we need it. Awesome! All pretty simple, straight to the point kind of things. Well I can't help but be annoyed with the problems created by these solutions. Lets take the rain barrel. Great idea, but it takes forever to water our garden....I mean a decent trickle is about the best we do with that thing. Also I hate how much my house suffers in the summer. The last thing I want to do when my house is 87 degrees and 85% humidity is to get up and clean. I break a sweat washing veggies in that kind of weather. I have also noticed that we are having some major bug issues in the house. Gross! I think I am doing pretty good with the whole bugs outside thing. A lot better then I used to. I actually picked a cabbage worm off my kohlrabi with my bare hands the other day. A pretty big step for me! I just can't, and won't, take them in my house! I suspect the berries to be the culprit. I sort through them but man those bugs are tricky little suckers! So although the solution is not as easy as I once thought it to be, I know there are some relatively simple solutions to make my solutions work (wow got that?) For one we need to install some sort of sink on our porch to wash veggies in. No more dragging dirty veggies in the house. Also I found an awesome rain barrel drip system you can build yourself in Hobby Home Farm. Ok well the a/c not so simple. I don't want it. It is bad for the environment, and bad for the budget. If I went all summer pregnant without it last year I can go the rest of my life unpregnant without it. So I hope I am not complaining too much! Actually after writing this down I realize that these are some pretty lame problems! On a lighter note here is a picture of our awesome squash!

This is the summer squash mix we ordered from Pinetree Seeds, a really great mix! I haven't seen any yellow yet, but I know we have some eight balls coming. I also discovered what seems to be, an awesome way to get rid of powdery mildew disease (naturally!). I just put 1 cup water to maybe 3 tbsp milk in a spray bottle and sprayed the plants when I first noticed the powder. I also sprinkled corn mean at the base of the plants. Not sure what did it, or if it was a combination but I am going to assume it was more the milk then the cornmeal.

Also the pickled garlic scapes I made in the spring! We really have had some great successes this year which I am very grateful for!